Search

Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge Home Prices Show Healthy Increases in the Fourth Quarter of 2015

Stable economy and shortage of supply placed upward pressure on home prices

KITCHENER/WATERLOO/CAMBRIDGE, ON, Jan. 13, 2016 /CNW/ - The Royal LePage House Price Survey1 and Market Survey Forecast2 released today showed healthy increases in prices across housing types surveyed in the Tri-Cities area. During the fourth quarter of 2015, the aggregate3 price of a home in the region rose 5.5 per cent year-over-year to $341,799.

The median price of a condominium jumped 6.9 per cent year-over-year to $220,872. In the same period, strong demand for two-storey homes saw the median price increase by 6.4 per cent to $363,445, while bungalows saw steady year-over-year price growth of 2.2 per cent to $318,054.

"As we enter the New Year, we are currently in a seller's market resulting from a noticeable shortage in home listings," said Keith Church, broker of record, Royal LePage Grand Valley Realty.

"The high tech sector in the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge region continues to be a big employer with thousands of new hires annually. With healthy employment rates, the region enjoys strong consumer confidence. This, combined with a continued low interest rate environment, is highly supportive of the local housing market."

Looking ahead, Church predicts home prices and sales activity levels will remain relatively stable in the coming year.

Nationally, Canada's residential real estate market showed strong growth in the fourth quarter of 2015, led by hot Vancouver and Toronto markets. Looking forward to 2016, Royal LePage expects continued price increases in most markets, but not at the pace that has been the recent norm. Instead, the national real estate market is expected to slow later this year, principally due to the effects of a dampened economy in Western Canada and eroding affordability in Toronto and Vancouver.

The price of a home in Canada increased 6.5 per cent year-over-year to $500,688 in the fourth quarter. The price of a two-storey home rose 7.7 per cent year-over-year to $610,134, and the price of a bungalow increased 5.4 per cent to $420,082. During the same period, the price of a condominium increased 3.1 per cent to $341,448. Looking ahead to 2016, Royal LePage forecasts that the median price of a home in Canada will increase at 4.1 per cent for the full year when compared to 2015.

"The frenetic pace of our country's largest housing markets should moderate throughout the year ahead," said Phil Soper, president and chief executive officer, Royal LePage. "While most of the country will continue to see house value appreciation in 2016, we expect that the pace of price increases in the Greater Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Areas – where real estate appreciation has significantly outpaced job and wage growth – will settle to a more sustainable, single-digit price increase trajectory."

In 2016, Royal LePage expects the price of residential real estate in Canada to be more heavily influenced by macroeconomic factors than by housing-specific variables such as tighter regulation in the mortgage industry. The Bank of Canada is expected to keep its overnight rate steady through the all-important spring market, extending the prolonged period of exceptionally low borrowing rates. While the new Federal Minister of Finance kicked off his appointment with a hike to 10% in the minimum down payment required for the portion of mortgage insurance over $500,000, Royal LePage expects this change to have a marginal effect on the overall market.

____________________________________

1 Powered by Brookfield RPS

2The Royal LePage Market Survey Forecast provides projections for aggregate national and regional house prices at 2016 year-end close (fourth quarter 2016 close)

3 Aggregate prices are calculated via a weighted average of the median values of homes for reported property types in the regions surveyed

About the Royal LePage House Price SurveyThe Royal LePage House Price Survey provides information on the three most common types of housing in Canada, in 53 of the nation's largest real estate markets. Housing values in the House Price Survey are based on the Royal LePage National House Price Composite, produced quarterly through the use of company data in addition to data and analytics from its sister company, Brookfield RPS, the trusted source for residential real estate intelligence and analytics in Canada. Commentary on housing and forecast values are provided by Royal LePage residential real estate experts, based on their opinions and market knowledge.

About Royal LePageServing Canadians since 1913, Royal LePage is the country's leading provider of services to real estate brokerages, with a network of over 16,000 real estate professionals in more than 600 locations nationwide. Royal LePage is the only Canadian real estate company to have its own charitable foundation, the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, dedicated to supporting women's and children's shelters and educational programs aimed at ending domestic violence. Royal LePage is a Brookfield Real Estate Services Inc. company, a TSX-listed corporation trading under the symbol TSX:BRE.